Early Detection of Autism through Acoustic Analysis of Cry

描述（由申请人提供）：初步证据表明，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童在婴儿期早期可能具有非典型的哭泣特征。先前的研究已经确定了年龄较大的自闭症儿童在语言韵律和发声方面的非典型特征，婴儿哭声的不寻常的声学特征将与儿童早期的发现相一致。我们的实验室对许多临床人群进行了哭声声学研究，包括（最近的）后来被诊断为ASD的婴儿。我们实验室使用的哭声分析系统是专门以婴儿发育中的声道为模型的。然而，目前的声学分析系统，包括我们自己的，可能不足以准确地检测到这些非典型性，特别是在它们可能是微妙的地方。该项目团队的研究人员在婴儿啼哭和婴幼儿自闭症方面具有专业知识，并拥有一个在声学分析和语音识别工具开发方面具有丰富经验的实验室。这个团队将合作开发一个新的基于最先进的声学工程和计算机技术的婴儿哭声声学分析系统。特别是，我们将利用数字信号处理的进步来产生更准确和健壮的婴儿哭声声学检测和建模。然后，我们将通过使用已经收集到的大型哭声数据库，包括后来被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍的婴儿的哭声，来验证这个新系统与我们现有系统的对比。这个项目可能会导致一种简单的、非侵入性的程序，可以在出生后不久识别自闭症的迹象，并将具有巨大的公共卫生意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Preliminary evidence suggests that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may be characterized by atypical features of cry during early infancy. Previous research has identified atypicalities in prosodic qualities of speech and vocalizations in older children with autism, and unusual acoustic features of infant cry would be consistent with such findings from early childhood. Our lab has conducted studies of cry acoustics in a number of clinical populations, including (most recently) infants later diagnosed with an ASD. The cry analysis system utilized in our lab is specifically modeled on the infant's developing vocal tract. However, current acoustic analysis systems, including our own, may not be accurate enough to detect these atypicalities, especially where they may be subtle. This project teams researchers with expertise in infant cry production and autism in infancy and early childhood, as well as a lab with extensive experience in the development of acoustic analysis and speech recognition tools. This team will work collaboratively to develop a new acoustic analysis system for infant cry based on state of the art acoustical engineering and computer technology. In particular, we will utilize advances in digital signal processing to yield more accurate and robust detection and modeling of infant cry acoustics. We will then validate this new system against our current system by using a large data bank of cries already collected, including cries of infants who were later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. This project could lead to a simple, non-invasive procedure that could identify signs of autism shortly after birth and would have enormous public health significance. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research is highly relevant to both early identification and intervention for children with autism. By developing a system that can identify atypical aspects of cry in infancy associated with this disorder, this research will aide in the development of more sensitive and specific screening and diagnostic tools for use in infancy. In addition, this research will improve our understanding of the roots and course of communication impairments in autism.